Iowa basketball: 2019-20 season preview for the Hawkeyes
By Jacob Shames
Starters
G Jordan Bohannon (6’1, Sr., 11.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 38.3 3pt%) — With 264 through his junior year, Bohannon’s already the program leader in 3-pointers made. His release is instant, his range is practically unlimited and he shows up in the biggest moments. See last-second shots against Northwestern, Michigan and Wisconsin. Amazingly, last season — in which his assists dropped from 5.4 to 3.4 per game and his 3-point percentage declined by 47 points — was his worst in an Iowa uniform, likely due to a troublesome hip that led to surgery.
Not only is Bohannon a terrific college player, but throughout his career, he’s been basically the only point guard on the roster. There are more options this season, but none are nearly as proven in an Iowa uniform. Bohannon played 15 minutes in Iowa’s 96-58 exhibition win over Lindsey Wilson on Monday, so it appears he’ll at least give playing a shot. He may come off the bench, however, until he gets back to full health.
G CJ Frederick (6’3, Rs. Fr.) — Frederick was named Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018 before redshirting last year. He nailed 48 percent of his 3-pointers as a high school senior, and not surprisingly, shooting and solid perimeter defense are what he’ll bring to the table this year. Similarly to forward Jack Nunge, he’s an example of how Fran McCaffery likes to strategically use his redshirts. Frederick was probably good enough to play last season, and this year, he’s jumped right into the starting 2-guard role, as he scored 18 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting on Monday.
G Joe Wieskamp (6’6, So., 11.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 42.4 3pt%) — Wieskamp is a supernova waiting to happen. He graduated from Muscatine High School in 2018 as Iowa’s all-time high school scoring leader and walked right into a Hawkeye starting five overflowing with talent and lit it up himself, putting up a team-high 122.3 offensive rating. Wieskamp was primarily a catch-and-shoot guy last season, though, and took the fewest shots per game of anyone in the starting lineup last season, much of that seemingly out of deference to his more experienced teammates. Don’t expect that to continue this year, as without Cook and Isaiah Moss, he should step right into the role of principal bucket-getter. He has All-Big Ten level ability.
F Jack Nunge (6’11, Rs. So., 5.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 bpg in 2017-18) — Despite a solid freshman season, the Hawkeyes held Nunge out of games while he focused on bulking up from 225 pounds and improving his all-around game. At a much sturdier 245 pounds this year, Nunge should be able to hang down low while still retaining the prototypical stretch-four skills, shooting and length that make him unique. I originally had Ryan Kriener starting here based on experience, but Nunge started at power forward against Lindsey Wilson, in which he scored 11 points and snared six boards. Either way, those two will probably rotate here.
F Luka Garza (6’11, Jr., 13.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 53.1 fg%) — On the plus side: Garza’s one of the most offensively skilled big men in the nation: able to score by facing up, putting the ball on the floor or through a solid arsenal of post moves. However, like most Hawkeyes, he’s not known for his defense. Garza averaged just 0.5 blocks per game last season despite standing nearly seven feet tall and doesn’t have elite athleticism or mobility. These limitations have kept Garza to averaging less than 24 minutes per game through his sophomore season. He’ll need to take a step forward on the defensive end to truly become the anchor Iowa needs him to be.